Army Blames 'Miscommunication' in Fort Drum Flap

NPR | By Ari Shapiro

Published February 7, 2008 at 6:12 PM AST

The Army Surgeon General says he was mistaken when he denied that the Army had told the Veterans Affairs Department not to help injured soldiers challenge their disability ratings.

VA spokesmen told NPR last week that an Army team sent to Fort Drum in New York to review disability issues had told the VA office there to stop helping the soldiers, to leave that to others. Soldiers said the VA had helped them get better disability ratings, and they felt that the Army was damaging their cases by cutting off that assistance.

Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker says the whole thing was a misunderstanding, and it is fine for the VA to help the soldiers.

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Ari Shapiro

Ari Shapiro has been one of the hosts of All Things Considered, NPR's flagship afternoon newsmagazine, since 2015. He has reported from above the Arctic Circle and aboard Air Force One. He has covered wars in Iraq, Ukraine, and Israel, and he has filed stories from dozens of countries and most of the 50 states. His debut memoir, The Best Strangers In the World, was an instant New York Times bestseller. He is also a frequent guest singer with the "little orchestra" Pink Martini, and he regularly tours the country as a cabaret artist with the actor Alan Cumming.